For months, DFL candidate Abdi Daisane has been busy running for a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives. On paper, his St. Cloud daycare has been pretty busy, too.
Blooming Kids Child Care Center was first opened in 2018. The facility is licensed to serve up to 113 children and is scheduled for a license renewal in December.
According to records from the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, Blooming Kids Child Care Center has received just over $7.29 million in Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) payments since 2018.
CCAP is a state-run program that subsidizes child care for low-income families. The program is one of several programs at the center of Minnesota’s ongoing fraud scandals.
Alpha News recently spoke with a former employee of a neighboring business of Blooming Kids Child Care Center. The worker told Alpha News, “I do not recall ever seeing children entering or leaving the facility.”
Further, the person said the front portion of the building routinely appeared dark and inactive, even during normal business hours. The worker noted that there is a “side/rear entrance” as well but could not say “what activity may have occurred there.”
“I have also seen a white van associated with the facility, but when I observed it, I saw only an adult driver and did not see children being transported,” the source told Alpha News.
“I don’t know how the facility operates internally or whether there is an explanation that reconciles what I observed with those records,” the source added. “That discrepancy is what I believe warrants independent investigation.”
The source has since reported these concerns to Minnesota’s fraud tip line and obtained a series of public records from state agencies that were provided to Alpha News.
More recently, the source noted a change: increased activity behind the building, including “approximately 5–10 school-age children using the rear playground around 5:00–5:30 p.m. on some occasions, along with several adults in the parking/playground area.”
Alpha News contacted the state agency which runs CCAP, the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), to ask about payments to Blooming Kids Child Care Center. The agency did not provide any information.
Food-program sponsor accused of submitting false claims
In addition to the millions in CCAP funds, records obtained through a data request and provided to Alpha News show Blooming Kids Child Care Center got $598,251.62 in approved claims through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) since late 2020.
CACFP is a federally-funded program run by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). The program provides funding for meals and snacks served at child and adult care centers.
Additionally, MDE records obtained by the worker who spoke to Alpha News show that Partners in Nutrition, a nonprofit, served as Blooming Kids Child Care Center’s sponsor for CACFP enrollment from 2020 into early 2022.
Last month, Partners in Nutrition agreed to an $18.5 million civil settlement with the state after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison alleged the nonprofit knowingly submitted false claims for federal child nutrition funds.
According to the attorney general’s office, Partners in Nutrition “knowingly and repeatedly” submitted false claims for meals that were not served and facilitated “widespread fraud” at sites it was responsible for monitoring from October 2020 to February 2022.
Multiple food sites were named in the attorney general’s lawsuit, but Blooming Kids Child Care Center was not one of them. However, the attorney general’s office said investigations into individuals, site operators and vendors affiliated with Partners in Nutrition are ongoing.
Alpha News asked the attorney general’s office whether Blooming Kids Child Care Center, Daisane, or anyone associated with the daycare has been investigated in connection with Partners in Nutrition. The attorney general’s office did not respond.
Additionally, Alpha News contacted MDE multiple times over several weeks to confirm that Blooming Kids Child Care Center received $598,251.62 in CACFP funds. On two separate occasions the agency told Alpha News it was looking into the request.
Alpha News first contacted MDE about that sum on Sep. 25. As of publication time, MDE has not provided any information.
Long history of violations
Alpha News first reported on Blooming Kids Child Care Center and its CEO, Daisane, in July of 2024. At that time, Daisane was running for state House District 14A and Alpha News reported on his child care center’s history of state licensing violations.
Since then, the child care center has been cited for more than a dozen additional violations which include hazardous objects being accessible to children, unclean space, children being subjected to prohibited disciplinary actions, and staff not supervising children at all times.
Now, Daisane is running again for District 14A after losing his 2024 bid by nearly 13 points. He faces Republican Mike Conway, a member of the St. Cloud City Council, in the upcoming November general election.
Daisane’s wife: ‘I smuggled myself and jumped over the wall’
Daisane isn’t the only member of his family publicly connected to Blooming Kids.
Photos posted on the Blooming Kids Child Care Center Facebook page show his wife, Ayaan Kaaba, inside what appears to be a classroom at the daycare. However, Kaaba has attracted attention for something far removed from the classroom.
As Alpha News previously reported, a BBC News Somali article from 2023 featured Kaaba describing how she crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to be with Daisane, according to an English translation of the article.
“I smuggled myself and jumped over the wall for my love,” Kaaba said, referring to Daisane, according to the translation.
The BBC article went further, describing Kaaba as “one of hundreds of Somalis who have jumped the US-Mexico border wall.”
Alpha News previously asked Daisane’s campaign whether the BBC account and translation accurately described his wife’s entry into the United States. The campaign did not respond.
Alpha News again contacted Daisane for this story but did not hear back.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
